SOLO FLIGHT TO NEW ZEALAND

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22445, 5 July 1938, Page 18

SOLO FLIGHT TO NEW ZEALAND

Miss Jean Batten’s Journey /' - ~ STOP PLANNED AT BASRA Rutbah Passed During Night fcMi i m tPublished by “The Press” under special arrangement.) CHAPTER XVI (Continued). Dawn was breaking as I crossed the Seine near Fontainebleau, and when it was light ' enough to distinguish the ground beneath I found the countryside ■ wreathed in mist. Even when 1 arrived over Lyons there was thick fog in the Rhone valley, although this dispersed near Valence. After flying above cloud most of the 1- route I arrived at Marignane Airport, I Marseilles, a little over four hours alter | leaving England. Only 40 minutes after landing I was on my way again, and the Gull j climbed swiftly over the mountains to Cap Camarat, where I left the French 1 coast and flew over the Mediterranean I oh a direct course for Rome. There was | a slight following wind, and I made I good time, and, speeding oyer Corsica, j reached the Italian coast in glorious sunshine. By this time I was beginning to enjoy the flight, although, according to the report from Marseilles, bad i weather lay ahead over the Adriatic, i I had been advised not to attempt to ' make Athens that afternoon, but to i land at Brindisi instead.

A Night at Brindisi The sky had clouded over when I sighted Naples, and I was obliged to climb through great banks of clouds to cross the Apennines. As I neared Brindisi the air became very turbulent, and the Gull was tossed about as I approached the storm area. The weather looked threatening out to sea. and banks oi ominous cloud darkened the sky. At the customs aerodrome at Brindisi I heard that the storm over Greece had not abated. Heavy rain Was reported at Athens, and the mountains round Tatoi were covered with low cloud. There was still sufficient daylight left to proceed to Athens, but I 'decided to play safe and stay the night at Brindisi, and fly straight through to Cyprus early next morning. 'Before leaving London I had learned that petrol was six shillings per gallon ifa Italy, and it was necessary to pay cash for any supplies taken at Brindisi. If I were to make up lost time by refuelling here and going on to Cyprus vhthout stopping in Greece, payment for the petrol would constitute a serious problem; I had with me the carnet issued to me against a deposit, which meant that I could refuel at the towns on - my schedule without paying for the netrol in local currency. The thirsty Gull would require about 68 I* gallons on the 1000-mile flight to Cyprus in still air, and with a safety ? margin against head winds or having to. turn back for any reason would need refuelling .to approximately 85 gallons. This meant producing £2B, which would leave me about £2 for total expenses during the rest of the flight. Just as I was puzzling out the best plan of action two men approached and * saved the situation. One of them was the chief representative in Italy of a big oil company, and by quite_ a coincidence he happened to be in Brindisi., As if by magic he was able to arrange for me to take ■.fuel aboard without. paying sterling. Although I had logged 1330 miles that day I was not the slightest bit tired, - and oh arrival at the_ hotel ate a hearty dinner of macaroni, which I declared excellent, to the great delight of my two Italian friends.

Difficult Take-Off , sWhen we arrived at the airport early next morning I realised that the takeoff in the darkness at this aerodrome, which was not,then equipped with lights, was going to be very difficult A runway was being constructed on the landing area, leaving me with very restricted space. The Kiel agent walked ahead with a torch as I "taxied the Gull rsldwly into the wind. -My kind Italian ‘friends then drove the car to the far corner of the aerodrome, and I took o ft toward the headlights. 1 Once off' the ground I climbed the machine up through the misty nimbus clouds and over a great bank of cumulus, and crossed the Adriatic Sea at an altitude' of 10,000 feet. At this height the air outside was icy, but in the cabin it was warm and comfortable. There was no sign of a break in the clouds when, one hour fortyfive minutes after. Brindisi, I altered course for Corinth, I wanted to check un-my position, but, it was inadvisable to' attempt to descend through the clouds at this stage on account of the high, mountainous nature of the country. The rising sun painted the sky crimson with its rays and tinted the cloud hanks a delicate pink. ■ Snow-covered peaks reared themselves above the clouds, which lay like a mantle over Greece. Identifying some of the highest peaks I was able to approximate my position, and as I flew on glimpsed thjp blue waters of the Gulf of Corinth far below through a gap on the white cloud carpet beneath. Over the Gulf of Corinth I glided down to 3000 feet, and flew out over the Aegean Sea toward the island of Paros, where I intended altering course for Rhodes. . Visibility improved, and as I passed over the numerous islands that dot the Aegean sea, and passing Rhodes neared the Anatolian coast of Turkey, the sun shone down from a clear sky to reveal the Mediterranean at its best. As on previous occasions, the Gull was tossed about by down-draughts from the high mountains on-the rugged coast even, though I was flying 40 miles out from the coast, and 1 was relieved when the-island of Cyprus came into view.

Landing Made at Nicosia I.landed at Nicosia to refuel. This ■was done vety quickly, but I had to wait nearly an hour for a weather report for the route to Bagdad. On earlier flights over this route I had experienced the fury of sandstorms, and had.too much respect.for the freak weather in this part of the world to off without a weather report. It was not very detailed when it did arrive, and I took off knowing that with the head winds predicted it would not be possible to make up the time lost at Cyprus. Some of the residents had very kindly given me large bunches of grapes and some juicy oranges, and these helped to while away, the time as I crossed the 150-

grtile stretch of sea to Beirut. Down Draughts from Lebanon •The down-draughts from the Lebatopn* Mountains had little effept on the powerful Gull, which climbed rapidly , through the clouds to speed across the Jgreiat range at 10;00Q feet. Over the . descent a yellow -dust-haze hung like fcpall, and as. I flew ‘oh this became

1 {Continued at foot of Jasi-column;

thicker, the wind wafting great cloud* of sand into the sky. Two and a-hss hours after leaving .Cyprus visiMsST became practically nil, and, fljlßf very low. I had great difficulty, ♦ keeping the ground in view. The E® was almost blotted out, and resemty a black sphere as it sank rapw£ Would the dust be worse farther ob£* asked myself, and decided not to Jg hying on to Bagdad under such ditions. The nearest aerodrome 60 miles farther on, and bore the ha®* title of H.3—L.G. (Landing Ground) on my map of the region.

It was now a race against darkness and the clouds of dust which s«tf* past the Gull as I flew on. At Mp just as thd sun sank below the h«ia® I sighted a solitary light ahead, within a few minutes the wheels*!® i the Gull came to rest on the saa« surface of the landing-ground. visitor was not expected outpost of ' H. 3, a pumping-stahon the A s i Petroleum Company’s IBS** line, along which the millions of_S*£ lons of oil flow from the Iraq at Mosul to the ports of Beirut Haifa, on the Syrian coast. I was®*: hind my schedule, and realised that would have to hurry if I were to tom* the England-to-Australia solo as I planned to do on the way thro* to New Zealand. I therefore deca** to omit a landing at Bagdad fuel at Basra instead, from where could fly non-stop to Karachi in effort to make up time. - The manager of H. 3 was mOS *- pitable. and arranged for a su PP i^ n)e petrol and a guard for the Gulldesert track would not be visible the darkness, and it would be nec«P[ sary to steer a compass course the desert to Ramadi. where I alter course for Basra. The P*®. of H. 3 was not accuratelyy markeg«g my map, so I asked the wireless ator to get the line course for Wells. He was able to do this, mb* | was a simple matter to mark out , magnetic course from that P 011 ”.- which I could fly direct to RamafltThe small band of engineers tioned at H. 3 showed great my flight at dinner that night, i-jffiff had heard on the radio of my proSt"T There were only two or three ings and a radio station on this outpost, and the only woman ■ wife of the manager. I was by the general* air of comfort cleanliness of the quarters, addition to the large was also a billiard-room. I to send a photograph of the Gou . crew for the mess-room wait* t. _ -... ' fee CpntinuedJ. v